Friday, January 16, 2009

Working the grocery sales

So, if you've been reading my blog very long, you may remember that last January I decided to join the Grocery Game in order to cut spending at the supermarket. Since we live on the salary of a high school teacher in Utah and all.

After a few months of doing it with the help of the website, I figured I knew the rules well enough to go it alone. So, I started going to pinchingyourpennies.com instead for the lists, and it's been wonderful.

I admit, I slacked off a lot around the holidays. Couponing was just one more thing to have to deal with, and so I just didn't. But I'm back on the wagon.

Here's my haul from Albertson's the other day:

Had to do it in three orders, so here's what I did (you can stop reading now if this kind of stuff bores you to tears. I won't mind. But I won't apologize for the fact that finding a great deal at the grocery store makes me positively giddy these days!):

Order #1:

15 cans of Progresso Soup, on sale for $2.00 each. (I realize that's not the best price on this soup, but wait...)
Albertson's had two coupons in their ad and you could double up to three manufacturer's coupons with each one. I had 5 coupons for Progresso soup, and I doubled one for 50 cents and two for a dollar each and saved the other doubling coupon for my next order.
Total (with tax): $24.82
Total saved: $28.35
PLUS, the register spit out coupons for $15.00 of my next shopping order.

Order #2:

3 boxes Betty Crocker instant potatoes (great for food storage, even though we don't eat them much), on sale for 3/$5.00.
2 boxes Cheerios on sale for $2.00 each.
5 boxes Golden Grahams on sale for $2.00 each.
3 boxes fruit snacks on sale for $2.00 each.
2 bottles Dawn dish soap on sale for $2.50 each
I doubled three coupons that were a dollar off, plus had five more for the various items.
I used the $15.00 coupons I received just before.
Total (with tax): $8.36
Total saved: $45.85
Register spit out $15.00 more in savings.

Order #3:

20 Yoplait yogurts on sale for 50 cents each, with a special promotion at 40 cents each if you buy 20.
3.5 lb Roast, on sale for $1.99 per pound.
2 lb block of Montery Jack cheese on sale for $4.99 with in ad coupon.
2 lb block of Cheddar cheese, same deal.
2 5 lb bags of potatoes, on sale for $1.25 each with in ad coupon.
I had several coupons for the Yoplait.
I used my $15.00 coupons again.
Total (with tax): $12.57
Total saved: $44.73

So, I got all that food for a total of, well, um...excuse me while I quickly get my calculator up, I am no math genius....

A total of $45.75.

Total savings of $118.93.

And I am not even as good at this as many people out there who basically get everything for free.

Lara Neves

Lara is mom to three daughters—two teens and a tween. She loves to share her parenting and homemaking triumphs and failures here at Overstuffed! She was diagnosed with Lyme disease in 2015 and has been fighting it ever since. When she isn't working on her mother of the year award, you can find her reading, singing, or taking photos.

Awesome! I think this is the coolest hobby. I have only heard of it a little before, and I LOVE reading it step by step like this. AMAZING! I really wish there was such thing as coupons in Poland. Even good sales are hard to come by!

I love, love, love the grocery game--but I didn't realize it worked with the pinching pennies site. I might have to go look around. BIG congrats, that stuff gives me such a high! Do you ever do Rite Aid? They have some GREAT sales. I haven't paid more than .25 for a small thing of dish soap in over a year. Way to go.

When Adam and I first got married, I used to do this, because we were really poor. But now, since we're in a better financial situation, we eat out a lot. But, we're waiting to hear about budget cuts and what will be happening, so it may be back to the soup for us.

Wow I'm just starting to do this again and don't have any coupons where do I gat them? are you just getting them from the internet are the newspaper? Help me And where are the best sites to go to, to help me with this?

A few girls in my bunco group are REALLY into it. They even buy coupons off Ebay. I feel overwhelmed thinking about it. But, this year we have decided to spend only $100 a week on groceries and things we need. For a family of five that much does not go far and it is much harder than I thought. I may just have to pick up this new hobbie.

that is an outstanding haul! I had been doing the GG for a while last year but when I went back to work I didn't have the 3 hours it was taking me to get my lists ready, plus the 3 hours a week to hop from store to store to do myshopping. so I gave up. and now everytime I go to walgreens and pay 4.00 for body wash, I'm pissed at myself.I'll have to check out pinch my pennies, that sounds good.

Lara, That is awesome ! Great job ! I wish we still had an Albertson's here !

I am an avid couponer at the grocery store and at Walgreen's and CVS...I have quite a stockpile in my storage of food, personal care items and medicines. Most of it 60% off, all the way up to FREE, my favorite word ! LOL

My comment is exactly Annette's! I used to do the grocery game - loved it but quit because I didn't do it every single week and I felt like it was wasting $. I've never heard of the other one... and why 3 orders? To get the register coupons?

Hi Lara! I don't mean to start a panic, but your post "True to Me" isn't coming up. At least not right now. Blogger tells me it doesn't exist. But there are the words of the first paragraph right there on my dashboard, taunting me! Anyway, probably won't be a problem by the time you read this, but I thought I'd mention it anyway!

DeNae...no panic. I accidentally published without meaning to. It's not finished, it's a draft. Oops! Those feeds are fast, because I deleted it in about 30 seconds. :) Now everyone has a sneak peek though, so I will finish and post sometime soon.

Wowee! Do you think that's something I could do? I know some people mentioned going to different stores. I generally avoid that because of the load of kiddos. We have been doing all of our shopping at the Super WalMart and Aldi. The walmart is the only place really close to us. Sad, huh?

Way to go, Lara! I love Pinching Your Pennies, so I'm glad you decided to try the site. No need to pay money when you can do it yourself for free, eh?

You did a great job on your shopping trip! Some of the stores weren't letting people use the $15 coupons on P&G stuff - so that definitely helped you out with the savings! Don't worry about it though - it was in teeny tiny print on the coupon - and I think stores didn't know it was wrong until a couple days into the sale. I also think I used a couple incorrectly during my shopping trip too! I just know a few people who got really mad when it got restricted around here! No worries for me, I used most of mine on the QUAKER sale this week!

Anyway, I thought you did a great job. My shopping update will be publishing on my blog at midnight tonight!